Wrapping up Cyndi's baby shower gifts

My girlfriend Cyndi is about to have her baby. (YEAH!!) Being a first-time mom at 39+, it is an exciting time of celebration for her, her husband and all of her girlfriends (who consider ourselves to be very blessed to know her!). Read more about her very special shower!


Last night, in her pre-baby insomnia, she found a web site that made her think of me - NameMaker.com (photo from their site). The reason she thought of me, was that for her shower gifts, I made custom wrapping paper for each gift. The They Might Be Giants - ABC's DVD/CD had ABC's on the paper. The Baby Book on being a loved baby were covered with scanned images from the bear drawings in the book. The Sculpey Clay Baby Handprint Kit had blue baby handprints all over the paper. (Cyndi's really crafty, so of course I had to give her a craft-related gift!)

With a decent printer, you can easily make personalized wrapping paper. I used Publisher to layout scanned or created images, but you can use any software you prefer. Print on the largest paper your printer will accommodate and piece/tape together as needed. Add a nice ribbon and suddenly the paper becomes part of the gift (and expresses the extra effort you made to recognize the special event!).

I know Cyndi appreciated the effort and even said she was planning to scrapbook part of the paper with her memories of the shower. If you're not up designing and printing your own custom wrapping paper, consider your options - Kinko's, local printers, Namemaker and other web sites. Check out Cafepress to buy custom gifts or create your own. (I ordered some CafePress Girlfriendology shirts, mugs, journals, etc. and the quality, speed and cost are very impressive!)

Thanks Cyndi for thinking of me and Girlfriendology in your night of sleepless surfing! Good luck this week for the big arrival of beloved baby Daniel! And thanks for inspiring my creativity!!

What GIFTS are great for GIRLFRIENDS?

I just got back from NYC last night and the NY International Gift Fair. As I walked the show, I searched for great girlfriend gifts - especially whose inspiration could be recreated in handmade gifts. Here's a few ideas. I'd love to hear yours!

* Jewelry, of course, is always IN. (What girlfriend doesn't love to get/wear jewelry?!) The trend in jewelry is large/multi-sized loop chains and fun, decorative charms. Why not try making these? I've taken armature wire and made it into shapes, then flattened it by hammering it. (Often using my cement basement floor as the hammering surface!) Then, if you'd like, you can drill holes in the flattened areas and use smaller wire to attach. Add some jewels and other elements to make it totally cool and custom!

* Almost everything in the design world is being influenced by the natural/eco-friendly lifestyle. (No longer a trend, this is now accepted as our lifestyle.) To be honest with you, when I was in the craft/hobby industry there was no motivation to include any project ideas using recycled materials - they didn't pay endorsements or hire you to demo them. (Someone should change that!) Now, as a creative not bound to those pay programs, I love using recycled materials. At the Gift Fair in NYC, I saw recycled cans made into animals, rolled up paper tubes became picture frames and foreign newspapers were made into decorative gift bags. You're creative! Look around. What do you have that you could use? Recycled cans, paper, glass. Or natural twigs, stones and fibers. Have fun being a natural (and creative!) girl!

* Other creative inspirations from the show: adhering pieces/layers of silk flowers to walls or surfaces (like frames or clothing), wool felting in all kinds of shapes and designs, glitter on all types of surfaces (like the glitter paint pens I talked about previously from DecoArt) and lots of shells. Sometimes shells were even with jeweled items - like mixing simple shells with Swarovski beads. Sounds a little bizarre but it was gorgeous and very visually appealing.


* Trend shopping finds in NYC: Monkeybiz Beaded animals from South Africa in ABC Home & Carpet are always amazing. Dishes in Fishes Eddy (across from ABC) featured hula girls, silly handpainted dogs and pigs, strange drawings of politicians and bees. From textured pottery (by Jonathan Adler - who got Oprah to try throwing pottery!) to irreverent and intriguing art from Cite like the 'shopping bag' above and these rose 'kits' - it is all interesting and inspiring.

Take a trip to a local city or visit stores you've never been to. Experience diversity in your shopping trend inspiration. You'll be glad you did! (And then tell GirlfriendologyToo about your adventures!)

Crafting a creative career --- is best with girlfriends!

Last night my beloved friend Lisa Galvin came to spend the night (on her way to a rubber stamping convention! Photo from her Carol Duvall taping.) Six years ago we met at a craft/hobby tradeshow. Now, at tradeshows, we often share a room and travel together. She is a wonderful friend, a trusted advisor and a talented designer. We, along with Katie Hacker (another great designer and author) have a mastermind group where each month we update each other on our goals and accomplishments, as well as share our challenges and advice.

In the past six years, Lisa, Katie and I have 'worn many, MANY hats.'
* Lisa began as a designer, started publishing designs in magazines and books, did a couple books (see below), took leadership positions in creative designer organizations and now reps craft products to stores in several states.
* Katie worked for a publisher in the craft industry, went freelance and did lots of books (a few of hers below) as well as magazines, published a creative newsletter, demos, is a regular on PBS (Beads, Baubles and Jewels) teaches and develops products. She specializes in beading. (She is busy - especially with sweet little Lily!)
* I went from a career in corporate marketing into the craft industry as a designer, TV demo'er (Carol Duvall/HGTV, DIY and Shop at Home; plus QVC, PBS, A.C. Moore), wrote for magazines/books, authored a book, published an industry newsletter, and did marketing and product development for dozens of companies in the craft industry. Like I said, we've worn MANY hats.

Why do I tell you all that? Well, we crafty women need to follow our passion. We can't help it! You can craft a creative career. Look at all the others who have done it before - that's proof! Follow your passion. Live and work blissfully. Go for it! And encourage other creative women along the way! Creative and supportive girlfriends are the best!

Lisa & Katie's Books:

Staying in the G mode ... Greetings from ME!

Through the love and support of primarily my girlfriends along with my family and husband, I had the amazing opportunity to go to South Africa last year with 300 others from Cincinnati. While there we built houses, planted gardens, took care of the sick and loved on kids.

In addition to gifts purchased in South Africa, I wanted to give my supportive friends something from that special place that was completely personalized. First, I printed out THANK YOU Their Name cards and took them along in my suitcase. During a break one day I posed in front of the house we built (I actually laid the block shown behind me in the photo!) with each one of the signs. I cut "Thank You" out of white cardstock. Then I placed the photo in the front of the card so the message could be seen.

As simple as it was, at least they knew that I made a special effort to send them my love and appreciation from the other side of the world. What girlfriends do you need to make feel special? How can you create a custom greeting just for them? Have fun with it - then share it with the rest of us!

Great Girlfriend Gifts and ... what was that other G word??

GREETINGS Girlfriends!

Handmade greeting cards are the icing on the cake for a great girlfriend gift - the total package! (No calories but still very sweet!) And, even with scraps from other projects, you can create a great card through decoupage, layering or altered art.

The card shown above uses a contrasting color of paper along with short lengths of ribbon on card stock. The focal point is a polymer piece (conditioned and rolled through pasta-roller to make it even and flat) with a rubber stamped image on it. (Baby powder and corn starch on the rubber stamp make sure it releases from the clay. Just wash off before using in stamping ink.) Two-holes in the polymer were made before baking. Then, before gluing the polymer element on the card, wrap a mini ribbon through the holes. (Check adhesive guides online for polymer glue advice!)

And, speaking of a Girlfriend Greeting Card - and polymer ... check out my girlfriend Linda Peterson, her blog and her great polymer designs. We've taped together before (Carol Duvall, A.C. Moore, etc.) and always have such a great time together. I'm sure her designs will inspire you! And your girlfriends will love getting gifts featuring polymer accents. Check out Linda's creative clay book

And, come on back to GirlfriendologyToo to read and share ideas for Great Girlfriend Gifts and ... GREETINGS!

G is for Girlfriends ... like Gayle, Glenda, Gina ...

Have you noticed all the home decor elements that focus on our initials? Monograms and letters on all kinds of items are a personalized present.

You can easily create this look to show your girlfriends that you think they're special! Using armature wire, shape the letter. I made mine about 6-8" high but you can vary the size and style. Then I strung glass beads onto thin silver wire (22-28 gauge). I wrapped this around the shaped armature wire. You can add charms, a ribbon bow at the top to hang from, etc.

Have fun with it! More ideas to come. Feel free to share yours too! Enjoy creating great girlfriend gifts and greetings!! (This idea was brought to you by the letter G!)

Easy Girlfriend Gift - bead and metal bracelet

I love to make gifts for my girlfriends' birthdays. (Partly because I really love to receive handmade gifts from my girlfriends!) However, I don't always plan ahead when I have time to really be creative.

Recently I made the above bracelet just for fun. I love working with beads and metal and I like to give gifts that I would actually like to receive - and jewelry tops that list! It is a simple three-strand glass and metal bead bracelet. I spelled out "Girlfriendology" in faux-metal beads - but that could have any word, name or saying. A few sayings that come to mind are:

* Bless this woman (words can be separated by beads or metal findings)
* To me, you are perfect
* Best Friend (or BFF for text messaging gurus!)
* You are Loved
* Follow Your Dreams - etc.!

Have you made a special gift for a girlfriend? Or do you have ideas on gifts and greetings you can make as memorial gifts? Share your comments with us all!

Glass Girlfriend Gifts?

Hola from Cleveland, Ohio. I'm here to tape A.C. Moore videos and I'll demo projects using Indiana Glass. So, I've been creating projects with glass vases - that do other things than just hold floral arrangements or a candlescape.

When your materials are set (such as HAVING to use a glass vase), it forces you to be creative and to think a little outside the box. So, try it. If you had a vase, what other things could you do it with? A few ideas that I'll be demoing/showing tomorrow on the video:


* For a wedding, instead of a unity candle, some couples are choosing to pour in two colors of sand at the same time. This symbolizes that, like the sand, their lives are forever blended together. Attached to the vase is a ribbon which dangles a frame of the moment in the wedding when they created this beautiful reminder of their wedding day. (Okay, so not really a girlfriend gift - but it is an idea you can share with an engaged girlfriend!)

* Have a girlfriend who loves snow globes or want to do a little decorating this holiday season? An upside down clear hurricane vase (with a little glitter paint thinly applied on the inside) will house a Santa ornament and trees with some fake snow around him. Wah-lah - a self-made faux snow globe.


* Perfect gift for a soccer mom: Pour in green colored sand about 4" deep. Place a mini framed photo of a soccer star child and some memorbilia on the sand/inside the glass. I used a mini soccer ball and some soccer stickers stuck on the inside of the vase. Then, I put a smaller glass bowl in the opening and filled it with desk items - pens, clamps, rubber bands, etc. I pretty spiffy desk organizer and monument to your kid's soccer passion.

Give yourself a creative challenge. What girlfriend gifts can you make with items you already have in your studio/home?! Then, feel free to share them with others! We'll post them and give you the credit. Go create! Your girlfriends will be glad you did!

Christmas in July

Really! It is looking like December in my studio this weekend. I'm working on holiday projects for some A.C. Moore videos that I'll tape in Cleveland on Tuesday. Even thought it is summer and HOT today, I'm painting on Snowflakes with DecoArt's Craft Twinkles Writers. (Very cool glitter paint/pens! Easy to use, clean up and they're really sparkly!) The photo shows an Indiana Glass vase and some glass tealight holders I found at garage sales. (Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to decorate a whole bunch of these for holiday gifts for my girlfriends!)

Why not get use your time/inspiration this summer to get started on some of your holiday gifts? It will definitely relieve part of that seasonal stress and make your girlfriends happy when they receive your handmade gifts!

Creativity from the Pillow Princess

My girlfriend Tina is the self-proclaimed "Pillow Princess." She's with her family somewhere in the Mediterranean so I'm watching her shop today. I'm totally surrounded by the most beautiful fabric, trim and tassels. If this doesn't inspire you to get creative with some swatches of material and create, nothing will!

So, for my first (in hopefully a LONG series of creative gift and greeting ideas!) blog on the creative side of Girlfriendology ... what about a perfectly personalized pillow as a gift?! Use image transfer fabrics to print your photos on cloth that you can sew into a pillow. Colorize photos before printing with PhotoShop or other software. Or go for the classic black and white photo with color highlight on the fabrics or trims.

Not a seamstress? You could always buy a pillow at a store and use fabric glue to decorate it with either image transfer fabrics or other items that remind you of her. Add trims to cover and raw edges. If it is primarily for decoration, add any memorabilia or elements like buttons, pompoms, beads or old jewelry pieces.

Pillows are the jewelry/accessory for a room. Let yours make a statement and be fun. Your girlfriend will feel like her own Pillow Princess with your gorgeous gift!

p.s. By the way, I did 'write the book' on image transfer - The New Book of Image Transfer (Lark Books). I used Lazertran for my image transfer paper/fabric but there are lots of good image transfer products available. Have fun with it!

Girlfriends! Let's get creative!!

Girlfriendology focuses on "inspiration, appreciation and celebration." Now, GirlfriendologyToo takes a creative approach at these same goals by sharing crafty ideas for gifts and special ways to make your female friends feel appreciated and loved - and as special as you think they are!

I love handmade gifts and greetings. Don't they always make you feel, well ..., special? With a background in the craft/hobby industry, and a creative need to make things, I am starting this blog to share ideas to inspire you and me to use our creative talents and even wacky senses of humor to show our female friends how much they mean to us.

So join me as I celebrate creative ways to be a great girlfriend! And PLEASE, add your creative comments, questions and ideas!! On to creating together! It's even more fun when you're making it for a true friend.

Girlfriends are a great thing - and so are creative Girlfriends who love to make and give gifts and greetings!